Sniff 'n' the Tears
| label = Chiswick Records (UK), Atlantic Records (US) | website = www.sniffnthetears.com }} Sniff 'n' the Tears is a British rock band best known for their 1979 song "Driver's Seat", a hit in many countries (including No. 15 on the American ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart). The exception was the UK itself where a problem with EMI's pressing plant meant that the single was not available following the band's appearance on Top of the Pops and it peaked just outside the Top 40. Sniff 'n' The Tears are led by singer/songwriter Paul Roberts, the band's sole constant member. Roberts, a noted painter, is also responsible for painting all of the band's album covers. Formation and initial success (1973–1979) An early version of Sniff 'n' The Tears had been gigging in England as early as 1973. They were unable to land a record deal, and the band's singer/songwriter Paul Roberts decided to dissolve the group and move to France. A few years later, the drummer from a band called Moon, Luigi Salvoni, listened to some demos that he and Roberts had cut in about 1975 for a French record label. Hearing some potential in them, he contacted Roberts about approaching Chiswick Records for a deal. Sniff 'n' The Tears subsequently debuted in 1977 as a six piece band, consisting of Paul Roberts (vocals, acoustic guitar), Loz Netto (guitars), Mick Dyche (guitars), Chris Birkin (bass), Alan Fealdman (keyboards), and Luigi Salvoni (drums & percussion). This line-up recorded the band's first album, Fickle Heart, which was produced by Salvoni. Though recorded in 1978, the album sat unreleased for over a year because Chiswick were in the process of changing their distribution. The band then had a substantial international hit with Fickle Heart's lead single "Driver's Seat" in 1979. However, Sniff 'n' The Tears fractured almost immediately after the album's release; in a matter of months, Birkin, Fealdman and Salvoni all left the group to pursue other interests. Nick South took over on bass, and would become a permanent member of the band. On tour, Sniff 'n' The Tears were augmented by drummer Paul Robinson and keyboardist Miffy Smith (who, as a guest musician, had played the Moog solo on "Driver's Seat"). The 1980s For the group's second album, 1980's The Game's Up, the band line-up consisted of Roberts, Netto, Dyche, South, and new keyboard player Mike Taylor. At this point the group had no permanent drummer, and a variety of session drummers were used. The Game's Up yielded no hits, and Netto left the group to establish a solo career, taking Dyche with him. This left Roberts as the sole remaining original member of Sniff 'n' The Tears. He decided to press on, and recruited Les Davidson as the group's new guitarist and added Jamie Lane as the permanent drummer. This five piece line-up (Roberts, Davidson, Lane, South and Taylor) recorded two albums: Love/Action (1981), and Ride Blue Divide (1982). Again no hits were spun off from these albums, and after having been dropped by Chiswick Records, the group broke up in 1983. Singer and songwriter Paul Roberts went on to make two solo albums for Sonet Records: City Without Walls (1985) and Kettle Drum Blues (1987). Reformation (1992–present) After a decade of inactivity, Sniff 'n' The Tears were unexpectedly revived in 1992, after the use of "Driver's Seat" in a European advertising campaign pushed the 13-year-old recording to the very top of the Dutch charts in mid-1991. Roberts took the opportunity to assemble a new version of Sniff 'n' the Tears, and took them out on the road in the Netherlands and Germany. This version of the band consisted of Roberts and Davidson, with new recruits Jeremy Meek (bass) (Ex Live Wire), Steve Jackson (drums) and Andy Giddings (keyboards). This line-up also cut a new studio album in 1992, No Damage Done, which was the first new Sniff 'n' the Tears release in a decade. "Driver's Seat" was prominently featured on the soundtrack of the 1997 film Boogie Nights and had another popular resurgence as a result, although most radio outlets played the 1991 re-release version instead of the original. The band's next release, 2001's Underground, featured Roberts singing and playing almost everything. He was credited with vocals, guitars, mandolin, harmonica, keyboards, bass and drum programming. However, longtime group member Les Davidson also played guitar on the album, and new member Robin Langridge handled the bulk of keyboard parts. After another long layoff, the band released their seventh album, Downstream, in February 2011. The Sniff 'n' the Tears line-up for this album consisted of Paul Roberts (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboard), Les Davidson (guitars), Robin Langridge (keyboards), returning member Nick South (bass). and new member Richard Marcangelo (drums). Marcangelo had previously been a session player on The Game's Up. Jennifer Maidman, who had played bass on Paul Roberts' two solo albums, also played bass on several tracks. Chris Birkin became a mathematics teacher in a school in Suffolk. Discography Studio Albums Compilations Singles Musicians *Paul Roberts (Vocals, acoustic guitar), in 2001 played bass guitar, mandolin, and additional keyboards) 1978–present *Les Davidson (Guitars, Background vocals) 1981–1992, 2001–present *Loz Netto (guitars) 1978* *Chris Birkin (bass guitar) 1978–1979 *Mick Dyche (guitars) 1978–80* *Rick Fenn (guitars) 1981–82 *Nick South (bass) 1980–81, 2011–present *Jeremy Meek (bass) 1992 *Jennifer Maidman (bass) 2011 *Luigi Salvoni (drums) 1978, came back to band briefly in 1992 *Paul Robinson (drums) 1979 *Jamie Lane (drums) 1981–82 *Steve Jackson (drums) 1992 *Richard Marcangelo (drums) 2011–present *Alan Fealdman (keyboards) 1978 *Keith Miller (synthesizer) 1979 *Mike Taylor (keyboards) 1980–81 *Miffy Smith (Keyboards & Synthesizers) 1981-82 *Andy Giddings (keyboards) 1992 *Robin Langridge (keyboards) 2001–present *Noel McCalla - (backing vocals) 1978 - 80 Timeline ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1978 till:2015 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1978 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:2 start:1979 Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:synth value:lightpurple legend:Synthesizer id:back value:gray(0.85) legend:Backing_Vocals id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_Albums BarData = bar:Paul text:Paul Roberts bar:Les text:Les Davidson bar:Loz text:Loz Netto bar:Chris text:Chris Birkin bar:Mick text:Mick Dyche bar:Rick text:Rick Fenn bar:Nick text:Nick South bar:Jeremy text:Jeremy Meek bar:Luigi text:Luigi Salvoni bar:PaulR text:Paul Robinson bar:Jamie text:Jamie Lane bar:Steve text:Steve Jackson bar:Richard text:Richard Marcangelo bar:Alan text:Alan Fealdman bar:Keith text:Keith Miller bar:Mike text:Mike Taylor bar:Andy text:Andy Giddings bar:Robin text:Robin Langridge bar:Noel text:Noel McCalla PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Paul from:1978 till:end color:vocals bar:Les from:1981 till:1993 color:guitar bar:Les from:2001 till:end color:guitar bar:Loz from:1978 till:1979 color:guitar bar:Chris from:1978 till:1980 color:bass bar:Mick from:1978 till:1981 color:guitar bar:Rick from:1981 till:1983 color:guitar bar:Chris from:1980 till:1982 color:bass bar:Chris from:2011 till:end color:bass bar:Jeremy from:1992 till:1993 color:bass bar:Luigi from:1978 till:1979 color:drums bar:Luigi from:1992 till:1992 color:drums bar:PaulR from:1979 till:1980 color:drums bar:Jamie from:1981 till:1983 color:drums bar:Steve from:1981 till:1993 color:drums bar:Richard from:2011 till:end color:drums bar:Alan from:1978 till:1979 color:keys bar:Keith from:1979 till:1980 color:synth bar:Mike from:1980 till:1982 color:keys bar:Andy from:1992 till:1993 color:keys bar:Robin from:2001 till:end color:keys bar:Noel from:1978 till:1981 color:back LineData = at:1979 color:black layer:back width:1 at:1980 color:black layer:back width:1 at:1981 color:black layer:back width:1 at:1982 color:black layer:back width:1 at:1992 color:black layer:back width:1 at:2002 color:black layer:back width:1 at:2011 color:black layer:back width:1 References External links * * * Category:English rock music groups Category:English new wave musical groups Category:British soft rock music groups